Route 11 improvements could be boost for North Country

To the Editor,

Have you been impressed with all the work being done on our North Country roads? Lots of attention, lots of work and good for our economy. Route11 is just aching to be turned into a rural expressway with all kinds of improvements like four lanes or passing lanes in some places, lane leveling or straightening, turning lanes, higher speed limits in some rural areas, etc...

The DOT is presently working on the project and will be ready to put their plans into action very soon. But where is the political will to get behind the project? The politicians are all wrapped up in the rooftop highway idea and wasting our precious time and money. A lot of our economy depends on Route 11 and this should be our main focus.

This could be called common sense but gets lost or forgotten when the rooftop comes into the room. So we continue to go nowhere on really pushing for an up-to-date Roure11, that will serve our needs. Our leaders continue the folly of dual support for both the rooftop and Route 11, which basically goes nowhere, is divisive and leaves Route 11 in limbo.

This is interpreted in Albany and Washington as unrealistic and we are left out of real road improvement money. The research has been done and completed in the 2008 study - why create a brand new road? How about concentrating on what we have? Get off the rooftop bandwagon and see the value of a viable Route 11.